Thursday, August 20, 2015

He who bullies the most wins?

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders being scolded by a Black Lives Matter supporter, even though Bernie is very sympathetic to their position.

The "Black Lives Matter" movement is beginning to bother me.  I completely understand where their indignation comes from.  I really do.  But the direction this movement is taking, along with many, many other signs I'm seeing every day here in the US and around the world leads me to believe anarchy is beginning to gain a solid foothold.  Example:

Several weeks ago an Arlington, TX (DFW suburb) trainee police officer shot and killed an unarmed black youth, Christian Taylor.  Here's what we actually know at this time:  The youth stepped over the barricade at a new car dealership and vandalized several cars.  He then got back into his car and drove through the locked barricade and rammed into the dealership showroom, then went inside on foot.  An "officer-in-training" arrived on scene and walked into the dealership.  We know all this because it was on the dealership video surveillance tapes and aired on TV.

But within just a few days a gentleman who identified himself as part of the Black Lives Matter movement was demanding that the officer be fired and charged with murder.  His quote was, "The officer entered the building with his gun drawn with the intent of killing Mr. Taylor."  And the crowd gathered around him nodded their enthusiastic approval.

With the intent?  How does he know what the intent of the officer was?  Until an investigation is complete, how do any of us know what the intent of the officer was?  Lots of evidence needs to be analyzed first.  The CSI-types will determine who's story is corroborated and who's is contradicted.  Shouldn't we find out the facts before we decide whether to prosecute or not?

And of course during all this the "hang 'em high" crowd was saying Mr. Taylor "got what he deserved."  Since when is vandalizing cars a capital offense?  All this hysteria from both sides before any facts have been determined is to me an early sign of anarchy.

More?

Just last night police in St. Louis shot and killed a black youth who they said pointed a gun at them.  The scene quickly grew into a riotous crowd, with police reinforcements being called in.  Whoa...whoa.  Was the youth armed or not?  Did he point a gun at police or not?  Shouldn't these questions be answered first before the riots begin?  Knee-jerk reactions seldom work out well.


Now protestors have taken over the microphones of several legitimate presidential candidates, both Democrat and Republican, driving them off their podium.  Shameful!  Seems to me BOTH sides should have the right to free speech.  But now apparently only the loudest has that right.  Creeping anarchy?

Ordinary people everywhere seem to be fed up with the status quo (including me).  Look at who the polls say are our leading presidential candidates so far:  Donald Trump, with the establishment Hillary Clinton stalled-to-fading (with a majority unfavorable rating) and the rebel / independent Bernie Sanders gaining ground.  How big a step is it from being "fed up" to jumping into anarchy feet first?  Look at the pro-anti gay rights, pro-anti abortion, pro-anti gun control, pro-anti Occupy Wall Street, etc crowds.  Sentiment is nasty and getting more tense by the day it seems.  I can only imagine how far things might deteriorate by election day, 2016.


And it isn't just here in the US.  Look at the extreme anti-establishment parties now on firm footing in Europe in places like Greece, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, and elsewhere.  Like our own Tea Party, these very vocal disenchanted political parties are intimidating the majority into doing things their way.  Study your history....the National Socialists (Nazi's) never achieved actual electoral majority in pre-war Germany.  They gained absolute power by bullying the silent, docile majority.  The comparison is eye-opening (although I'm not at all suggesting any of these will ever resort to the barbarism of the Nazi's in WWII).

And then there's the Mid East.  Oh, Dear God!  What a dysfunctional, anarchical mob they are!  Hello....Al Qaida?  ISIS?  Muslim Brotherhood?  I even saw in the news this morning that one group claiming responsibility for a deadly bombing in Cairo, Egypt was the Black Bloc, a militant, anti-Islamic group of soccer fans.  Soccer fans?  Really?  Who's next, the Crazed Stamp Collectors Society?

Many are now predicting that Iraq and Syria, and probably Libya, too, will never again function as legitimate homogenous countries.  You might as well throw in Somalia, Yemen, Lebanon, and a few others, also.

So, am I being paranoid?  Am I a "Doom and Gloom"-er?  Ummm....I don't think so.  I'm just a person, a realist, who pays attention.  And what I see is creeping anarchy.  

S




15 comments:

  1. I know some folks (I'm not one of them) who think that anarchy is just what this world needs. They were saying that 15 years ago (and they are white, for what that's worth). I'd rather have law & order that I can trust, PLUS all my lefty bleeding heart goals :)

    My boss's family is from Syria (I think she's first generation here). She was saying the other day that her happy place was her grandmother's house in Damascus, but she'll never be able to go back there. Sad.

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  2. The world, not only the U.S., seems like a strange place these days. I, too, feel one's freedom of speech should not be taken away by people who just want to yell. The same with the instant demonstrations (riots?) before any facts are known. I'm pretty much in agreement with you today, Scott.

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  3. I am glad I am not a young black man and I am also glad I am not a cop.

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  4. Kind of hesitate to comment here; I always seem to have strayed from the pack. But what the hell.....
    Referencing only the BLM issue......I don't claim to speak for them, or really even know the totality of their issue, I can only write about what I've read from their posts and comments.

    I think the reason they don't as yet disrupt the GOP because they are very aware they don't have a chance in hell of making a dent in their racism. The Democrats, or Demo/Socialists like Sanders are another matter, in fact just after the pictured above incident in Seattle at Westlake Mall in downtown, Bernie got a spokesman who has worked with Black Lives Matter before.

    They are saying they are tired of waiting, of being patient, of going the slow route. It's been 150 years since slavery was abolished, but it's been 150 years of institutionalized racism. Unrelenting. It took 100 years just to get civil and voting rights passed, now those same things are in danger of being abolished. They are tired of being told to wait, to be patient. They've waited. They've been patient. Now they are saying no, they won't be patient. Why should they?

    When we criticize the movement, and the uncivilness of the sight of Bernie being shouted down, what they hear us saying is "Don't make us uncomfortable. Do it in a way we approve of." Well, they've tried that. For a very long time. Is Texas, South Carolina, the South a less racist place than 50 years ago? Maybe, on the surface. But deep down? Do we have politicians in congress saying racist things about our President? Are blacks stopped for traffic issues 5 times more than whites? At that pool party that was in the news recently would we have seen the policeman with his knee in the back of a 14 year old white girl, shoving her face into the ground?
    They appear to be telling us they are tired of it, and polite hasn't worked.
    I agree with Joeh, I'm glad I'm neither too.

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    1. You make a good point. But I don't understand how "think before you speak", or in this case "know the facts before you speak" could do anything but bolster their position. If they prematurely say something that later turns out to be untrue, it just makes them look foolish.

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    2. And please don't hesitate to comment here. Your thoughts are always very well thought out and appreciated.

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    3. I think the 'think before you speak' and 'know your facts..' are well known by the BLM group, and they see how their progenators, the people who's shoulder they stand upon, were so constricted by those rules. 'The facts', were controlled by a racist society and they waited decades and longer for 'the facts'.

      'Think before you speak', I believe, is heard by them as 'Don't make us uncomfortable, emphasize non-violence, sit quietly, we'll fund you.' White liberals, the last part, the ones really upset by the latest action by folk who don't want to just go along and get along.
      Just my opinion.

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    4. So do you think in this day and age, with the active media we have, and with the transparency we all crave, that racist authorities can still manipulate the facts? I'm just not that cynical. I hope my faith isn't misplaced.

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    5. Well, geez. Ok, first, we do have active media, not necessarily an accurate one. We have transparency?? When did that happen?? Racist folks can still manipulate the press??? You gotta be kidding me.
      Just for fun, and a bit of a gestalt.... in 2014, more blacks were killed by police than people in the 9/11 bombings and plane crashes.
      I'm saying some things are emphasized, some are not. It can make quite a difference what is publicized and what is not.
      cheers,
      Mike

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  5. It's too easy for cops to say they thought they were being threatened so they fired. Interesting how they don't fire so quickly at white kids. Still, being a cop is a dangerous job and I for one wouldn't want to do it.

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    1. You're right, talk is cheap. That's why I'm a big proponent of police body cams.

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    2. Every cop should be a proponent of body cams.

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  6. Critical thinking is rare. Inventing victimhood to suspend all restraint and justify force and violence is very much alive and gaining popularity as a way of life. Facts and logic just get in the way.

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  7. Interesting post, interesting comments. And everybody has some good points here...makes you think. Makes you wonder. And just why are we humans such a mean, hostile lot?

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